


taste your black magic

by boogyu (transming)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Attempt at Humor, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Cults, Fluff, Kink Negotiation, Light BDSM, M/M, Misunderstandings, Strangers to Lovers, it's a lot softer than the tags suggest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:48:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24085363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transming/pseuds/boogyu
Summary: Seungcheol thinks there's something off about Mingyu's new roommate.[a prompt fill for SVT Rare Pair Fest]
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 11
Kudos: 107
Collections: Seventeen Rare Pair Fest: Round 1





	taste your black magic

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [SVTRarePairFest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SVTRarePairFest) collection. 



> _[prompt: rumor has it that xu minghao is a part of a satanic cult. he hasn't said anything about it (but really, when does he say anything ever) but seungcheol's friend, kwon soonyoung, insists that he is. because of this, seungcheol (being quite the coward) mostly stays out of minghao's way, avoiding making even the slightest eye contact._  
> 
> 
> _until one day, seungcheol stumbles upon the rumored cultist smiling brightly and laughing while playing with a stray cat and almost had a heart attack, because holy shit---he's pretty cute._  
> 
> 
> _(and if he is indeed a cult member, maybe seungcheol wouldn't mind joining. he's not sure. he's considering it.)_
> 
> _ps. soonyoung is not a bad guy, just a whole darn lot gullible]_
> 
> i dont know anything dont look at me
> 
> (no seriously i have no experience in the kinks mentioned so pls read all of this with a grain of salt i ran out of time to do actual research)
> 
> ((i also dont know where half of this fic came from and i cannot be held responsible for what ended up in this lol))
> 
> to my dear prompter: i sincerely hope this meets your expectations and was somewhat what you had in mind! writing this got me hooked on the pairing a lil bit ngl :] i hope you dont mind i changed the prompt a little bit re: a dog instead of a stray cat bc i have short term memory loss ha
> 
> title from death of me by new politics

Seungcheol knows very little about Kim Mingyu from the two interactions they've had with each other. In fact he could name them on one hand:

  * He's tall (a pretty difficult thing to miss)
  * He's a social butterfly; something Seungcheol had learnt during their first interaction outside their LIT201 lecture hall. They’d been trying to exchange contact information and had been interrupted multiple times by random students calling out to Mingyu, exchanging greetings, and completely ignoring the obvious pre-existing conversation. Mingyu had been ignorant to all of it.
  * He's friendly.
  * He has a new roommate. 



Seungcheol learnt this last fact at the very beginning of their second ever interaction, and keeps learning it. Mingyu somehow circles back to the topic three times in the fourty minutes they spend trying to study, tucked away in the corner of the university library. The first time had happened the second the two had finished exchanging greetings; he apologised for being late, explaining with an exaggerated grimace that his new roommate had been hogging the bathroom all morning, meanwhile Seungcheol had barely pulled his chair out. Then, Mingyu’s book had been open for an impressive eight minutes before he had leaned over the table to compliment Seungcheol’s leather jacket, not even giving him a second to respond before saying “My new roommate would really love it. Where’d you get it?” 

The third time happens when Mingyu has just returned to the table with his second coffee. Seungcheol thinks he probably shouldn’t be drinking any more caffeine with how jittery his leg is already, but they’re not close enough for him to start nagging about stuff like caffeine intake just yet. And anyway, the whole reason they’re at this cafe is to work on the lit assignment they’d been randomly selected to work on together. Maybe the caffeine will help Mingyu concentrate.

“Hey, did I mention I got a new roommate?" 

Seungcheol gives up. 

"Oh yeah?" He asks, sounding far more interested than he actually is. Maybe if he lets Mingyu get it out of his system they can actually get some work done.

"Yeah my old one - uh, Vernon, do you know him? Fashion disaster, listens to a lot of underground rap? Anyway, he moved out last week because he's got this rich boyfriend in the city that he's moving in with so the uni sent me a new one.” He speaks faster than Seungcheol's brain can keep up. The frequency with which his leg is bouncing under the table is enough to shatter glass. “It sucks, I was really looking forward to having the place to myself for a while longer. You know?” He laughs.

Seungcheol doesn't know; he's afraid of living alone. The moment he left his parents house he found a safe corner of the city to settle down in with Soonyoung, the biggest homebody he knows, and has never been left home alone since.

"Yeah." Seungcheol agrees, hoping his affirming laughter doesn’t sound too forced. If it does, Mingyu either doesn’t pick up on it or doesn’t care. 

"Anyway, the guy’s kinda weird. He's like a goth I think and doesn’t really talk much." Mingyu pauses to take a gulp of his still steaming coffee, surely burning his throat. And sure enough his eyes start to water a little; Seungcheol swallows down a laugh. When Mingyu manages to speak again, his voice is strained. “And-” A cough, “He had these books that were like, _ancient,_ with these weird symbols all over them and he got all defensive when I asked to look at them.” 

“That’s not weird.” Seungcheol argues, because he’s also sensitive about people touching his things sometimes. “And aren’t you being a little judgemental?” 

Mingyu pauses so suddenly it actually startles him. He might be imagining it but he swears there’s a lull in every single conversation in the entire library. Mingyu visibly deflates. “Oh.” He slouches in his seat and Seungcheol feels like he just kicked a puppy and he can’t fucking get a grip on how fast the mood changed. “I guess I was huh? I’m sorry.”

Seungcheol fumbles a bit. “I-it’s okay?” He tries to reassure, because Mingyu honestly looks seconds away from crying. Would it be weird if he pats his hand? He does anyway. “Um. There there?” 

Seungcheol leaves the study session(?) with a half assed brainstorm, Mingyu’s number in his phone and a silent prayer for Mingyu’s New Roommate. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Xu Minghao.” Mingyu’s New Roommate introduces himself in a voice much softer and quieter than Seungcheol had expected. Granted, Mingyu himself has said countless times by now how much Minghao doesn’t talk, but Mingyu talks enough for a room of a hundred so Seungcheol can’t really be blamed for not taking his word on it. 

"Choi Seungcheol." He replies, doing a very quick, hopefully very subtle onceover. Minghao's wearing so much black the skin poking out along his neck and hands almost look white. His ears are more metal than cartilage and he has a rose gold septum piercing dangling out his nose. He can see what Mingyu meant about the whole 'goth' thing, but Minghao seems friendly enough. He hasn't slammed the door on his face yet. "Is Mingyu…?"

Minghao shifts on his feet, elbow coming up to lean against the door handle on his side, giving Seungcheol himself a cursory glance. Seungcheol tries not to fidget on the doorstep. Minghao hums a beat late, "He's still asleep." 

Seungcheol checks his phone; he's right on time. He holds back a sigh.

"Are you gonna come in?" 

He startles, pocketing his phone. Minghao is staring at him, eyes hooded, an eyebrow raised. "Huh? Oh yeah if that's-"

"Mingyu's room is the one on the left." Minghao interrupts, tone bored. He makes an aborted arm motion behind him, which finally draws Seungcheol's attention to the thick, ancient-looking book tucked under his arm. "Tell him I won't be home for dinner tonight." 

"Yeah sure." He finally steps into the apartment when Minghao steps back to let him in, and when he turns around to ask if it's okay if he just barges in and wakes Mingyu up, Minghao is already gone. Seungcheol didn't even hear the door close behind him.

  
  


* * *

  
  


"There's something weird about him right?" Soonyoung is saying, sounding far less awake than he did ten minutes prior. 

"Who?" 

Soonyoung makes a face that Seungcheol doesn't so much see as he does hear it in his voice. "Minghao, Mingyu's new roommate. I was just talking about him?"

"Oh right." Seungcheol has been more or less semi-conscious for the better half of twenty minutes. He blinks until his eyelids stop feeling so sleep-sticky. Neither of them have the energy to get up and go to bed, though they really should. "I haven't really talked to him."

"Neither." Soonyoung hums, already halfway back to sleep. His voice rumbles in Seungcheol's chest; where his Adam's apple is pressed up in the most uncomfortable looking position. "Mingyu says there's something creepy about him." 

Seungcheol huffs and pokes at Soonyoung's side with the hand that's not stuck underneath his roommate's body, reprimanding. For someone who rarely leaves the house, Soonyoung is just as much of a social butterfly as Mingyu is. Seungcheol didn't even know they knew each other. "I wouldn't believe everything Mingyu tells you. As far as I know he's scared of his own shadow." 

Soonyoung wriggles away with a laugh. "So are you." 

"That's irrelevant." 

"But true!" Soonyoung cackles. Seungcheol pokes him harder.

"Whatever."

Soonyoung settles back in against his chest, head tucked down in a far more comfortable position and Seungcheol naively assumes the subject has been dropped. He focuses back on the TV, watching some nature documentary about wild cats that Soonyoung insisted on watching even though he's barely conscious and has probably seen it before. 

"There's a rumour going around about him." Soonyoung mumbles five minutes later. "Minghao, I mean."

Seungcheol sighs, regretting every bit of this conversation, and indulges him anyway. "Yeah?" 

Soonyoung nods, eyes glued to the TV. He pauses to watch an antelope barely outrun a tiger, the dramatic music carrying over when he replies. "Apparently he's in a demonic cult or something. Or- like, satanic maybe? They're the same thing right?"

Seungcheol shakes his head, exasperated in a fond way that can only come from knowing Kwon Soonyoung. "That's dumb, even for you. Who told you that?" 

Soonyoung pokes his fingers into Seungcheol's stomach and says: "A bunch of people." He huffs indignantly. "And weirder things have happened." 

Seungcheol just rolls his eyes and knocks Soonyoung's head off him to grab the remote. "You need to stop believing everything you hear." 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Seungcheol needs to stop believing everything Soonyoung tells him. It's his worst habit, he's _painfully_ aware of it, and yet there's just no way to stop Soonyoung before he starts spewing conspiracy theory nonsense and Seungcheol's brain always soaks it up like a thirsty sponge. 

For example, in what has since been labelled the Freshman Freakout of 2019™, Seungcheol had nearly ran straight out of his final exam because Soonyoung had _convinced_ him that he was caught in a simulation and if he did something no one expected he could somehow break himself out of it. (It was a rough week - Soonyoung still felt pretty bad about that one.)

Point is. Here Seungcheol is, indulging Soonyoung yet again, and _actively_ avoiding Xu Minghao like the plague. Now that they've met Seungcheol manages to run into him _everywhere._ He simultaneously makes sure they're never alone in the same room together and watches him like a hawk every chance he gets. What's worse is it's becoming increasingly harder to hide his wariness towards Minghao as he's somehow managed to weasle his way into Seungcheol's very small circle of friends overnight. Seungcheol _knows_ he's got the worst poker face in the world. It's honestly a matter of time before someone calls him out on it. 

And for why? He honestly doesn't know. There's an (irrational) fear that, if Minghao _is_ in a satanic- demonic- _whatever_ cult and he finds out that Seungcheol knows, he'll threaten him or kill him or use him for a human sacrifice. Seungcheol is a 25 year old almost-virgin that's too soft-hearted to tell a cashier when they've overcharged him for his coffee; he's gotta be prime sacrificial material, right?

He blames Soonyoung for all of this; for the cramp in his legs he got from squatting down too fast; for the fact that he's currently hiding behind a fucking _bush_ in the first place, watching Minghao size up a yippy chihuahua tied outside the coffee shop Seungcheol was originally heading for. He can't see Minghao's face from where he is but he does see the way Minghao leans over to let the dog sniff his hand before dropping into his own squatting position and running a bejeweled hand through the dog's thin fur. 

A horrifying thought crosses Seungcheol's mind. The words _animal sacrifice_ in big bold letters obscure his vision and cloud his judgement, and the next thing he knows he's marching right over to Minghao. He's still crouching and looks up at Seungcheol apprehensively with a protective hand around the dog, now curled into his side and sniffing at his jeans. 

"Seungcheol?" 

"M-Minghao." He stutters out, all the adrenaline that brought him there washing down the drain along with his dignity. He waves, trying for casual and failing miserably. "Hey." 

Minghao just stares at him, subconsciously rubbing the dog behind its ears and making Seungcheol feel, in so many words, Very Unwelcome. He would really like the ground to open up right now, please.

"I'll see you around." He practically runs into the cafe, stumbling over his feet a bit and he swears on his life he hears the softest tinkling giggle behind him as he reaches the doors. Curiously, he turns back to look, only to find Minghao still staring at him with the same deadpan glare. He could have sworn he saw the hint of a smile slip away just as he looked back but plays it up to overactive imagination and lack of sleep, as always, and enters the cafe with uncomfortable prickles of lingering awkwardness dotting his back and arms. Why can't he act _normal_ for once in his life?

He hides in a back corner of the cafe, praying Minghao doesn't come looking for him, and by the time he leaves the cafe an hour later, the dog is still there with all of its limbs intact and Minghao nowhere to be found.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Weeks pass and Seungcheol still keeps Minghao at an arm's distance. Minghao keeps to himself, anyway, always excusing himself first before their stilted conversation even has a chance to become awkward. It’s not like Seungcheol is unfriendly towards him; they just don’t have anything in common to talk about, he reasons. (And yes, maybe a small, paranoid part of him is still scared Minghao is practicing some sort of black magic and he doesn’t want to get himself cursed or killed.) 

“Are you sure you aren’t just intimidated by him ‘cause he’s hot?” Mingyu’s ex roommate, Vernon, cuts in after Seungcheol more or less rambles his way to the topic of Mingyu’s current roommate without realising. 

“Huh?”

“You do talk about him a lot.” Mingyu agrees, not looking up from his laptop. He’s finally pulling his weight with their assignment and Seungcheol sincerely hopes what he’s writing is good enough that he won’t be pulling an all nighter rewriting it before tomorrow. 

“No I don’t.” He argues, laughing like the very idea is preposterous. 

Vernon puts his phone down to say, very seriously, “Seungcheol, this is the first time I’ve met you and I’ve learnt more about Minghao in the past half an hour than I have from the two weeks Mingyu has been messaging me to complain about him.” 

Seungcheol opens his mouth to argue, and closes it when he comes up blank. 

“Also, you keep doing this thing where you look at Minghao’s door every thirty seconds like you’re waiting for him to show up even though you know he’s at work.” Vernon explains with what can only be described as a sympathetic grimace. “It’s kind of pathetic.”

Seungcheol gapes, rendered speechless, and has to physically stop himself from doing exactly what Vernon just described. He genuinely hadn’t noticed until now how often he did it. After an offended pause, he closes his mouth and turns to address Mingyu. “I hate every roommate you’ve ever had.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


The worst part is Vernon maybe kind of has a point. Now that Seungcheol’s aware of it- yeah okay _maybe_ he can admit he finds Minghao attractive in the mysterious, sexy kind of way. Like, kinky sex on the first date kind of sexy. Not that he thinks about _that_ often. (Or at least tries not to.)

Anyway. Now he can’t even look Minghao in the eye and it’s completely Vernon’s fault. Seungcheol needs to stop being so easy to influence.

"Why are you being weird?" Minghao demands, appearing out of thin air and making Seungcheol react so violently he falls off his chair with an undignified clatter. Somehow, realising that he's attracted to Minghao has made him jumpier than when he was simply scared of him. He really can't win.

"W-weird? Me?" He laughs, too high pitched to be anything natural. He pulls himself off the floor of the library, uncomfortably aware of the glares he's getting. "I'm not weird." 

Minghao sits down at the table across from him, looking slightly more unimpressed than usual. "Did I do something to offend you?" 

Seungcheol shakes his head, panicked. "Not- no! No of course not. You're fine-"

Minghao sighs, slumping back in his seat. "Then why do you keep avoiding me?" 

"I'm not…" Seungcheol trails off, processing the, dare he say, _sad_ look Minghao is wearing. _A human emotion!_ His brain cheers, _We got one!_ "I'm sorry."

He hurries to continue, words rushing like a dam overflowing. "I-it's just my roommate told me about some dumb rumours about you that I took way too seriously and I judged you before I even knew you and then Vernon told me maybe I was just intimidated by you which I think I am and I really just get nervous so easily. It's not your fault though! You didn't do anything I'm just-" He sighs, exhausted from the sudden outburst, "An idiot." 

Minghao's mouth twists, scrutinising, thinking. A drop of sweat trickles down the back of Seungcheol's shirt and Minghao says: "Okay." 

Seungcheol blinks. "Okay?" 

“You seem harmless.” Minghao shrugs, sitting forward to lean on his crossed arms. “And that whole helpless puppy thing you’ve got going for you is kind of charming.”

Seungcheol blinks again as blood rushes to his cheeks. “M-my what?”

Minghao stands to leave, ignoring him. “Anyway. Mingyu is throwing a party for some reason I didn't really catch and it’d be cool if you came along and stared at me from across the room. Really give me a boost of self confidence, y’know?” 

Seungcheol opens his mouth to apologise, maybe defend himself because he's not _that_ creepy, but a tiny giggle cuts him off. Minghao looks down at him, fist pressed to his lips as he giggles at Seungcheol's expense. He's too awestruck by the once in a lifetime occasion, the adorable tinkling laughter that sounds like pure happiness, to realise he's being made fun of.

Minghao stares at him, still smiling, waiting. Seungcheol's brain finally catches up to him: "Y-yes of course I'd love to come I-"

"Great. See you there, idiot." Minghao disappears in a blur of black, and as Seungcheol sits and processes what just happened, he finally remembers to feel offended. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Being pressed up against a wall with a set of lips enthusiastically moving against his own is not where Seungcheol saw his evening going. Even more unpredictable is the owner of the lips, the notorious Xu Minghao, being the one to initiate it in the first place. He can't help the soft noises he keeps letting out as Minghao explores his mouth, sucking and biting on his lips, pressing closer to open their mouths and wrap those pretty lips around Seungcheol's tongue. 

They're still standing in the entryway of Mingyu and Minghao's apartment and Seungcheol had barely caught a glimpse of fairy lights and bodies crammed in the living room before all of his senses had been overtaken by Minghao. He'd been pulled inside by his shirt and whirled around, the slam of the door a distant echo as a mouth had pressed urgently against his own. 

That same mouth pulls away to whisper _"You're late,"_ and Seungcheol's head is spinning too fast to formulate a response. Minghao doesn't appear to need one anyway, as he's pulling Seungcheol off the wall and further into the house, attaching their mouths together again as he navigates them down a dim hallway. 

In a dull blur, Seungcheol recognises that he's been led to Minghao's bedroom. He processes this in sync with Minghao dropping them both onto his bed, sheets and blankets a dark shadow under them. 

All of a sudden the situation seems too real, too much. He can't repress the anxiety that crawls up his chest as Minghao pulls his own shirt over his head, and it must show on his face as Minghao pauses to look down at him, chest bared. 

"I've never done this before." Seungcheol blurts, face burning once his words catch up with him. Minghao's eyebrows scrunch down in confusion. 

"Been with a guy?" Minghao asks carefully, still holding his shirt between his hands. 

Seungcheol sits up, forgetting that Minghao is still sitting on his legs and unintentionally bringing their faces closer. "No I've- done things just. Not all of it?" 

Minghao stares down at him. Seungcheol counts his breaths. With the flick of a lightbulb, Minghao says, "Oh. You mean you've never had a dick up your ass?" 

Seungcheol's entire body flushes with embarrassment and he buries his face in his hands. "Oh my god." He moans, a tinkling giggle filling his ears and easing the horrifying mortification like a spot of burn cream on a piece of skin that's still on fire.

"That's okay." Minghao says, voice carefully free of any stray laughter. Hands wrap around Seungcheol's wrists and tug them down until Minghao's near-black irises fill his vision, surprisingly soft and warm. "We don't have to do that tonight." 

_Tonight?_ The word echoes around Seungcheol's brain as his heart provides a percussion of desire. It's an orchestra, a cacophony of sound his body is playing for the boy on top of him. "Tonight?" 

Minghao laughs outright this time, eyes curving and shining and stealing Seungcheol's breath away. "Sorry, I don't do one night stands." 

Seungcheol can't help but smile in relief. "Neither do I." He says. Minghao nods, smiling softly, almost shyly down at him. 

It's surprisingly easy for Seungcheol to lose himself in the hot, wet sensation of Minghao's mouth making its way down his body after that. His shirt comes off and his nerves are chased away by a shiver of arousal. A soft hand traces circles across his stomach and strokes his sides, gentle and caring. It's a wild contrast to the passionate, almost aggressive way Minghao bites his way across Seungcheol's chest, nipping and sucking on his skin until it's splotchy and red and Seungcheol is painfully hard in his jeans. Then that hand on his stomach trails down, teasingly slow, until a finger is tracing the hem of his pants. 

"I know this is our first time," Minghao mumbles into the bruising skin of his neck, "But is it okay if I tie you up?" 

Seungcheol's brain comes to a very abrupt, screeching halt. 

"Uhh.." 

Minghao pulls away to look down at him. "You can say no." He reassures, face gentle and patient. He takes one of Seungcheol's hands into his, squeezing it once. 

“What about the party?” Seungcheol asks. As if on cue, a shatter rings out somewhere else in the apartment, followed by loud laughter and a groan that sounds suspiciously like Mingyu.

Minghao hums, bringing one of Seungcheol’s hands up to lay a sweet kiss upon the back of it. “The door’s locked.” 

“No I mean- won’t you be missed?” 

Minghao kisses his hand again. “Not my party.” 

“Yeah but won’t-” Seungcheol cuts himself off as he comes to the realisation. Minghao hides a grin behind the hand holding Seungcheol’s “They didn’t even know I was coming did they?” 

Minghao shakes his head. “Sorry. You know how Mingyu gets. He thinks I hate everyone - can you imagine how unbearable he’d be if he found out I invited someone over?.” 

Seungcheol squints up at him, feeling weirdly pleased by how much Minghao actually planned this out. Minghao reaches for Seungcheol’s other hand - lying dead across his stomach - and guides both of Seungcheol’s hands together so the skin of his wrists brush against each other, his hands bunched into loose fists. Minghao’s hands circle his wrists, the illusion not going over Seungcheol’s head. He tests the give, just to see what Minghao would do, and swallows loudly when Minghao’s grip tightens, just enough to hold his hands in place but loose enough that Seungcheol could easily break free if he wanted.

"We can give you a safe word." Minghao coaxes gently, watching Seungcheol’s reaction closely. They’re practically strangers, he tells himself. Then why has he never felt safer, so far out of his comfort zone that he doesn’t know how to get back?

Seungcheol nods, swallowing again, heartbeat thundering in his chest and Minghao leans down to kiss him again. It’s sweeter than any of the kisses they’d shared yet, full of reassurances and an unspoken promise to take care of him. Or at least, that’s what Seungcheol hears. Minghao pulls away and swings his leg over Seungcheol’s body to get off the bed. He pads over to his closet and rummages around in it for a while. "What do you think?" 

Seungcheol has never had a safe word, nor ever even entertained the idea of needing one. "Um…" 

"Anyone ever tell you you're a great conversationalist?" Minghao teases, huffing a breathy laugh as he returns to the bed. 

Seungcheol sits up just to glare at him. "Yes, actually." 

Minghao giggles. He throws a bundle of industrial rope on the bed next to Seungcheol’s hip. "Well they were lying." 

"Sorry," Seungcheol sincerely apologises, “I get nervous easily." 

Minghao just shakes his head and begins untangling the rope. "Nothing to apologise for. We don't have to do anything you’re not ready for." 

It's Seungcheol's turn to shake his head, though he's sure it's got none of Minghao's effortless grace or elegance. "I want to. I want you." 

He inwardly cringes at his own cheesiness, but, to his absolute delight, it makes Minghao's face turn a beautiful shade of pink, his eyes stubbornly trained on the rope in his hands. 

"Marshmallow." Seungcheol blurts.

Minghao’s hands freeze and he looks back at him, confused. "What?"

Seungcheol's face seems to be perpetually burning tonight. "My uh- my safe word." 

Minghao blinks at him, then breaks out into a fit of giggles. "Oh my god you're _adorable_." 

He pulls Seungcheol into another kiss, this one bruising, and inadvertently pushes them both back into their positions from earlier. 

* * *

  
  


Heartbeat in his ears, Seungcheol is nearly unconscious when Minghao carefully sits on the bed beside him, a wet cloth landing on his stomach waking him up a bit. Minghao grabs for it before he can and wordlessly starts cleaning up the mess on his stomach. Seungcheol feels bad for not having the energy to reciprocate even a fraction of what Minghao just did for him, but Minghao has already assured him that he can make it up to him next time. Seungcheol is beyond pleased.

"What were the rumours?" Minghao asks after a moment of silence. 

“Rumours?” Seungcheol responds reflexively, quickly following himself up with, “Oh.”

The cloth gently moves over his stomach and Minghao remains silent, eyes downcast when Seungcheol finds the courage to look at him. “It’s dumb.”

“Rumours do tend to be.” Minghao giggles, chucking the cloth somewhere else in the room. 

Seungcheol fiddles with his fingers, face, neck, _body_ on fire as Minghao’s eyes are trained on his face. 

“My roommate told me,” He starts, because if he’s going down he’s at least taking Soonyoung with him, “That people are saying you’re like, in a demonic cult or something?” 

Minghao’s eyes widen a fraction and Seungcheol hurries to defend himself. “I know it’s ridiculous! And I know it’s not true. You just wear a lot of black and Mingyu was telling me about all the old books and stuff you read so I just- got paranoid? I guess? I’m sorry.”

Minghao gapes at him, eyebrows up to his hairline, and Seungcheol is about to get up and run out of the apartment with his tail between his legs when Minghao breaks out into laughter - real, chortling fits of it this time, and Seungcheol’s heart does a confused jump. 

“Uh.”

“God, you’re so naive.” Minghao sighs happily at Seungcheol’s expense. 

“Thanks?” Seungcheol chuckles self-deprecatingly - only a little pouty. “I get that a lot.” 

Minghao kisses him in response, soft and sweet, and Seungcheol supposes he could get used to Minghao teasing him if it means he always gets kissed like this afterwards. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/transgyu?s=09) | [cc](http://curiouscat.me/wuju_lbx)


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